Acal Share Discussion Threads

[targatarga] 14/10/2009 07:14

somethings up...thankfully

[targatarga] 14/10/2009 07:12

early buying albeit at trades, bodes well!

[liveinhope] 13/10/2009 16:13

What is an NT type trade, that this was?

[value viper] 13/10/2009 15:19

good spot - agreed

[targatarga] 13/10/2009 15:08

biggest trade for ages....

[value viper] 07/10/2009 15:43

within 60 days of interims and no statement - seems unlikely that we will get one now. maybe as now classified as 'FTSE fledgling' there are different rules relating to rns's ?

[value viper] 07/10/2009 14:34

hhmm. i may pick up my bat phone and see if any such t / update might be forthcoming ?!

[liveinhope] 07/10/2009 14:26

Value Viper - we need news on how there integrations of certain units are going. Had hoped a pre-close trading Statement (like last year) may have been issued but it wasn't. Guess we will have to wait until late Nov/early Dec for news.

[value viper] 07/10/2009 13:58

A new thread to hopefully tie in with a recovery in shareholder fortunes.
Most of the market cap is covered by cash and operating profitability must be close.
Value characteristics abound imv. NRI and please DYOR as usual.
Good luck all.

[targatarga] 07/10/2009 10:38

mm's now ringing round for stock up to 115p.....

[targatarga] 05/10/2009 09:29

sold a few this morning for a position elsewhere. mm's not interested at all. hey ho

[targatarga] 01/10/2009 14:18

Amazing how time flies. I've held since may 08 and i've lost a packet. Would be nice if the price moved occasionally just to liven things up!

[liveinhope] 30/9/2009 09:22

I wonder if a pre-close trading Statement will be issued later today, like they did last year?

[value viper] 19/9/2009 15:14

so so thinly traded - annoying it has not featured in the general mkt rally.
cannot help but think one of these days a pleasing RNS will appear - NRI.
maybe we will have to wait for the next trading update for this (hopefully) to get more coverage.

[targatarga] 10/9/2009 07:49

Value - would that be a hunch or just wishful thinking? regards

[value viper] 09/9/2009 19:04

fully loaded !

[targatarga] 04/9/2009 09:44

first sign of steady buying for ages, must be something happening!

[wjccghcc] 24/7/2009 15:01

A bit concerning they made no reference to market expectations in the IMS. Current forecasts are for losses to nearly double this year. Last year's free cash outflow was 2.6mm so that could rise to 4-5mm. The property sale and aquisition pretty much cancel each other out cashwise. Therefore likely net cash at the end of the year is around 20mm IMHO unless H1 turns out to be much worse than current forecasts.

[gingerplant] 24/7/2009 13:51

A Share That's A Bet To Nothing

This business has a market cap of £29m yet owns net tangible assets of £44m.

Warren Buffett's first (and second for that matter...!) rule of investing is not to lose money. On that basis alone, Acal Electronics (LSE: ACL) is definitely worth a look.

Acal describes itself as a value-added distributor of electronic components, medical and scientific products, and parts and services for the IT industry. The Guildford-based company employs around 750 people in the UK and on the continent, and tries to differentiate itself from the competition by offering high standards of technical support via 170 specialist sales and application engineers.

Troubled times

As you can imagine, things haven't been going too well in the current economic climate. But today's interim management statement indicated trading might soon improve. Although market conditions remain difficult, steady orders and an improved gross margin in the electronics division, which supplies products to industrial manufacturing and design companies, should help the second-half performance.

Acal has also introduced a number of cost-cutting measures, which are expected to bear fruit during the rest of the year. This is absolutely crucial because if Acal can trade profitably, it's effectively 'a bet to nothing' due to its cash and asset backing. And even if it doesn't trade profitably for a while, it's very well insulated for the time being. Let me explain...

Cash galore

The final results to the end of March revealed net current assets of almost £44m, an overall net asset value of £58.6m and net tangible assets of £43.6m. Most importantly of all, net cash was £24.5m, but at today's slightly improved price of 110.5p, Acal is valued at a little over £29m. Depending on your viewpoint/investment philosophy, then, the company is effectively valued at either less than zero, or just £4.5m stripping out the cash.

But trading is challenging and we aren't told today whether the first few months of this year have been profitable or not. If the worst is truly over, as would appear to be the case from today's statement, then the company looks exceedingly cheap on an asset/cash basis. After all, this is a company that was making annual pre-tax profits of almost £10m a couple of years ago.

Resilience

Last year wasn't so great, though. Total sales last year were £165.4m, boosted by the weak pound and an acquisition. The headline loss of a whopping £32.6m was down to a £41.8m goodwill impairment charge due to deteriorating economic conditions and the write-off of the company's investment in Singapore's Westech Electronics (the flat-screen manufacturer ran into trouble when one of its biggest customers filed for bankruptcy and defaulted on its payments). Perhaps more importantly, though, Acal still managed to make a pre-tax profit of £0.5m before exceptional items.

Though the dividend was pruned heavily to reflect the downturn in performance, down from 21.9p a year earlier to a relatively paltry 7p per share, the trailing yield does now look very respectable.

The shares may not go anywhere in a hurry unless there's a takeover approach of course -- and it wouldn't exactly surprise me if there was given the asset base and recovery prospects. This is, after all, a cyclical business, and we're in the trough -- the ideal time to pick it up on the cheap perhaps? But either way, I reckon the company's resilience, dividend payments, and, above all, strong balance sheet, make it look a very shrewd investment at 110.5p.

[targatarga] 24/7/2009 12:45

thought iwas dreaming. Are they your trades viper?

[targatarga] 24/7/2009 12:44

nope, got enough already...tt

[liveinhope] 24/7/2009 09:54

AGM today as well.

[targatarga] 24/7/2009 08:26

a nice generally positive update.... also vacated an empty property realising a few extra quid. Looks like these boys are trying after years of malaise. regards